Duff McKagan on what it’s like being in a band with Iggy Pop

Duff McKagan has never been shy in lending his bass skills to other artists’ projects. The Guns N’ Roses man has rocked up with his four-string on albums by Jerry Cantrell, Mark Lanegan, Manic Street Preachers, Ozzy Osbourne and more, but you imagine one of his collaborators particularly stands out. McKagan, a dyed in the wool punk rocker, has played on two Iggy Pop albums – 1990’s Brick By Brick and this year’s Every Loser – and the former Stooges frontman returns the favour on McKagan’s new solo album Lighthouse, making a spoken-word cameo appearance. In an interview with Dave Everley in the new issue of Classic Rock, McKagan was asked what Iggy Pop was really like given everyone thinks of him as a “wild man who is always getting dick out”. That’s not so far from the truth, McKagan replies.

“Well, he’s still the wild guy getting his dick out [laughs],” says the G N’R man. “It’s hard for me to have a regular relationship with him, cos he’s been Iggy Pop to me since I discovered The Stooges when I was twelve or thirteen years old. I’ve been lucky enough to play on two of his records. He’s such a hard worker; he’s kind of like James Brown in how he runs a band. The last time, it was me, Chad Smith, Jamie from The Kills. And he called Chad ‘drummer’. Like: ‘Drummer – can you hit that on the up beat?’ And this is Chad Smith!”